There have been conventionally used techniques by which a plurality of electric devices are connected to a network and data stored in the electric devices are shared between the electric devices connected to the network. For example, Patent Literature 1 shown below discloses a technique for causing, in a network constituted by a plurality of mobile terminals, the mobile terminals to simultaneously and in the same order reproduce still image data retained by the mobile terminals.
Specifically, in the simultaneous reproduction system described in Patent Literature 1, a plurality of mobile terminals connected to a network are divided into (i) a controller terminal for giving an instruction to other mobile terminals and (ii) player terminals for reproducing a file according to the instruction given by the controller terminal.
In a case where the above simultaneous reproduction system performs simultaneous reproduction of still image data, the controller terminal requests each of the player terminals connected to the same network to transmit a list of still image data satisfying a predetermined condition. Upon receiving the request for the list, each player terminal transmits, to the controller terminal, a list of still image data satisfying the predetermined condition.
Upon receiving the lists from the player terminals, the controller terminal adds to the lists still image data stored in the controller terminal, and generates a simultaneous reproduction data order list that determines the order of reproduction of the still image data included in these lists.
Then, based on the simultaneous reproduction data order list, the controller terminal performs control so that the still image data, which are included in the generated simultaneous reproduction data order list and are to be reproduced simultaneously, are copied into the controller terminal and the player terminals.
Specifically, the controller terminal instructs a terminal (any of the player terminals or the controller terminal) capable of providing the still image data which are to be reproduced simultaneously to transmit the still image data to other terminal(s) not storing the still image data.
Consequently, the still image data which are to be reproduced simultaneously are stored in all of the player terminals and the controller terminal. In this state, the controller terminal transmits, to all of the player terminals, a request to start simultaneous reproduction, in order that the player terminals start reproducing the still image data. Further, the controller terminal itself also starts reproducing the still image data. This allows the controller terminal and the player terminals to simultaneously reproduce the same still image file.